Master of Science in Computer Science and Engineering

Computer scientists and engineers study the design and architecture of digital systems, their properties, and their application. Computing is the field that is most strongly influencing the societal, industrial, and technological advances of this century, bringing a revolution spanning from what humans can do (via information technology, data science, e-commerce, and more) to how they communicate (the web, social networks, mobile devices, and virtual/augmented reality).

The Computer Science and Engineering department at UC Santa Cruz spans multiple areas of research including algorithms, logic, and complexity, computer hardware, including architecture, VLSI (chip design), FPGAs, and design automation, computer security and privacy, cyber-physical systems, distributed systems, database systems, machine learning and artificial intelligence, natural language processing, networks, pervasive computing and human-computer interaction, programming languages, robotics, social computing, storage systems, and visual computing, including computer vision, visualization, and graphics. Computing at UC Santa Cruz has already attained a very high level of international recognition. With its proximity to Silicon Valley and its outstanding research, UCSC is a leader in computing research and education. Questions regarding the graduate programs in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering can be directed to the Graduate Advisor.

To be considered for acceptance into any of our graduate programs, students usually have a Bachelor's degree in bioinformatics, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, or statistics & applied mathematics.

English Language Testing

The programs Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry, Computational Media, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics and Applied Mathematics, and Technology and Information Management each require 570 on the paper-based test, 230 on the computer-based test, and 89 on the internet-based test.

For those choosing to take the IELTS, a minimum overall score of 7 from the IELTS test is required for admission.